Machine for spinning and twisting fibers.



G. A. I OWEI.

II'ICI'IIIII FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING FIBEES.

APPLIcATloN FILED mv 19. wis. nreews APR. 2a. 1915.

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a sngETs-susmg I G. A. LOWRY.

MACHINE FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING FIBERS. APPLICATION man MAY 19, i913. RENEwEn APR.28.1915.

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2 SHEETS-,SHEET 2.

GEORG-E A. IOWRY, 0F NEW YORK, N. ASSIG-NOR, BY DERECT AND MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO-PALMETTO lRODUCTS COMPANY, INCORPORATED.

MACI-IINE FOR SPXNNING AND TVISTING FIBERS.

maaien Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led Iiay 19, 1913, Serial No.y 768,573. Renewed pril 28, 1915. Serial No. 24,576.

lilaments may be applied, and its .principal object is to produce a twisted strand of such filaments free from -projecting'ends olf the individual filaments which strand.

In the ordinary methods of spinning' and twisting, the fibers, after being carded to place thein in an approximately parallel recoinpose the lation to each other, are lirst loosely twisted together, and then by a series of drawing and twisting processes the fibers are drawn within the twist until a fairly smooth single twist strand is produced. The leading and following ends ot' the individual fibers, however, still protrude to a greater or less extent from thetwisted strand, but when the libers are tine, such protruding ends are not especially objectionable, or may be removed by gassing the strand or yarn. ln twisting coarse strips or ribbons, to which this invention is particularly addressed, such as grasses, strips or ribbons cut from palnietto leaves, and similar materials, much dificulty has been experienced in obtaining smooth twisted strands, on account of the protruding ends ot' the comparatively stid and coarse material. i

ln making twine or yarn of grass, strips, or ribbons of leaves, or similar coarse filamentous materials, for matting, binder twine, etc., it has been usual to make a raultiple strand, composed of several single strands twisted together', each single strand being produced by a singletwist method. The several single strands when wrapped around each other ina multiple strand hold down. a substantial part of the protruding ends ot the strips or filaments, but the multiple strand so produced is often-undesirable for several reasons, lt possesses too great rigidity and inliexibility; it is more costly than a single strandyand it requires more time, labor and mechanism to produce it. It

has also been a practice in making single strand twine of such materials to wrap the' strand after it is twisted, with a cotton thread .to hold down the protruding ends of the strips.

Neither ot' these expedients need be resort- Patented Aug. 17, 131,5. v

ed to in practicing my invention, by which both ends of the several filaments or strips entering into the twisted strand are inclosed or enveloped by the mass of twisted filaments or strips themselves, so that there are no protruding ends. In making a twine or yarn from grass or other coarse iber, according to my invention, l cause the filaments, as they are 'ted to the twister in succession, to

Spread or direrge at their following ends,

while the leading ends are inserted into the center or core formed by the iilainents pre-v viously fed to the twister. Roughly speaking, I make the filaments form a skeleton cone, with its apen at the point where the filaments are twisted together, and insert each filament so that its leading end enters the interior of this cone, joining. the preced` ing` filaments at the apex, and therefore at a point where the entering or leading end is inclosed by the preceding lilanients they are twisted together. As soon as a lanient is thus introduced and its leading end twisted inside the previously introduced lilanients, the free, or following end ot' the lilainent is caused to follow a helical path outwardly from its position of introduction; successively introducedtilaments follow each other in this spreading movement, forming the skeleton cone into which the leading ends of the successively introduced filaments are passed. As the lilainents are introduced in succession their following ends arrive in succession at' the extreme outward position after following the said helical path, and just before these following ends are drawn into the twister, they are released from the guidance which determined their said helical movement, and spring inward to the center. or axis, of the skeleton cone. Then those lilaments which follow, being still. held in dig vergence from the-axis of the cone, and being meanwhile drawn into the twister, twist themselves around the following end of the lilament that has just sprung inward to the axis of the cone. This happens to alll the filaments in succession, so that the leading end of each is wrapped inside-the filaments il 16B which preceded it in passage to the twister, and the following' end of eachis wrapped in side the il'aments which succeed vit in passage to the. twister. y

Vhile drie-foregoing expresses my invention in its full values, A a. ymeasurable portion of these values may be secured. by so twisting the filaments togetherV that one end of each is covered into the twine, leaving the other to lie at theoutside, or whereever it may cha-nce to be. incorporated 4in the twine.- Thus, both ends of vthe lilainents are inclosed and held within the twisted yarn, which is therefore free from protruding ends, or one end only may be so inclosed.

For performing the aforesaid new method oftwisting and manufacturing the above described new article. of manufacture, namely, the twine or strand characterlarged, through the twister; Fig. 5 1s a plan view, partly broken away, of the parts shown in Fig. 4; and Fi 6 is at detail 1n planview of the feed rolls or drawing rolls and their gea-rs, shown in Fig. l.

Referring to the drawings, A. represents an upright support, to .which are secured the bracket-s a., o and c -for supporting the various parts of the twisting mechanism.

The twister, indicated generally at B, 1s mounted to rotate on bracket o, and comprlses the worin gear Z), and a pair of pinch rolls Y1 and 722, mounted respectively on sliding' journal blocks Z2" and b4, which are pressed inward by springs of' and rlhe rolls i5 and. 7F .meet acrossa central aperture la? through which the strand passes. rllie twister is rotated by a worm gear c, on shaft c', journaled on bracket a..

Below the twister B, is the t'ced mechanism or drawing mechanism, indicated4 zgenerally by the reference character D, supported on bracket o', and comprising a pair of feed rolls d, d, rotated together by gea-rs als, (Z2, which are carried by the shaft on which said feed rolls are. mounted. A spring d4 tends to press roll d toward roll d.

The sha-:tt c may be connected with any suitable source of power (not shown) and drives not only the twister B, but also the feed rolls al, d by a chain and sprocket connection between shaft c and the shaft on which roll al is mounted.

G11-top of the twister B, and rotating therewith, is a hopper or carrier l,`which spiral wire, ceiling outward and continuing lthe spiral from the outer edge of the spiral funnel. The spiral wire f is located a substantial distance above the outlet end of the funnel F, and a similar but smaller spiral wire f is located at the bottom of the funnel. The funnel F is adjustably supported on bracket ci by a slotted ear 7'2.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Assuming` that the twister B is revolving, and that a, twisted strand S has been started and is being drawn downward b v feed rolls d, tZ, while the twist is being put in between the pinch rolls b2 and the feed rolls, the upper untwisted ends of the` filaments still standing above the throat c of the hopper E, will have been carried from the inner convolutions of the spirals toward the outer Aconvolutions by thefrotation of the twister' and hopper, while the funnel spirals remain stationary. This will. spread said upstanding un twisted ends outward in a form which may be described as a skeleton cone. New lilaments are now added one after another, by being dropped into the :tunnel F. The leading` end of each filament will be directed at first by the funnel F acting as a. guide, into the midst vof the spread lilanients, or, in other words, intothe axis of the cone, and at once becomes engaged and drawn into the center of the twine or strand passing between and being formed by the pinch rolls b', b2. At the same time the rotary motion `given by the twister, assisted by the .inwardly projecting pins c', e on the' hopper or carrier E, carries each newly introduced filament around in the spiral path provided or prescribed' by the spreader, consisting of the funnel F and spiral wires f, f, until such filament joins those on the out-side of the funnel, Where for the time being it forms a part of the hollow skeleton cone, or conically diverging' group of filaments. `When the -following' end of the. filament, which is continually being drawn downward, comes within a short distance ot' the twister, it is released from the lower' coil of the spiral spreader, which is spaced a little way from the twister, and being,r short and ,comparatively stili, springs to upright position, thereby bringing the following end into the midst of the spread ends or" the subsequent vfilaments orstrips, so that the longer ends of' material which are coming after it will envelop and inclose such following end. Thus the machine will automatically produce a single-twiststrand in which both the leadingY and the following' ends of .its several component strips are inclosed and wrapped inside oi" the strand, instead of protruding therefrom. as they do when made by the methods and. the mechanisms heretofore employed.

The principle on which the above described machine operates is as follows: Strips or lilauients being fed successively endwise into the twister, are successively spread outward at their upper or :following ends, so that these ends form a. skeleton conical helix as they are drawn down through the twister. Each strip or iilainent is ted into the core or axis ot this conical helix, so that the previously inserted filaments wrap around the leading end of th subsequently inserted iiiament.. each iilannj-nt descends to the twister it .is released `from the constraint which previously 2.." hcnt it outward troni the core or center, so that its following end springs hach to the core or center and is there surrmmded and conciaied hy the lilamcnts which succeeded' it in introduction to the machine.. 'lhe leading;q end ot each filament thus twisted inside the' ilanicnts which preceded it, while the following` end of each tilanientis twisted 'inside the liiauicnts which succeeded it, in iutrmluction to the machine. From the instanty the leading' cud ot a lilauicnt enters the twister ot the machine the .filament is bent outward more and more, in a-spiral path, until just before the 'following end enters the twister, that end. released to 40 spring' bach to the centerand inside ot the conical helix formed by its successors. As the iilarnents suited to 'such treatment are ain'iroXima-tely ot eren lengths, the resulting twine is composed of' filaments laid in suhstantially regularly spacedsuccession.

What l claim and desire to sccitre by Letters latent, is:- n

l. ln a twisting' macnine, a twister, a `spreaalulner device to spread the untwisted parts 'of iilainents passing to the twister, and a guide to direct the leading end of each strip into the midst of the spread ilaments, said spreading device adapted to permit the following ends of the several ilamonts to return to the midst of the spread filaments before being twisted therewith.

2S ln a twisting mechanism, a twister, a

spreading device comprising a spiral spreader adapted to deflect. and spread the permit the following ends of the several filaments to return to the midst of the spread filaments before being twisted therewith.

el. in a twist-ing mechanism, a twister, a

stationary spiral'spreader adapted to defleet and spread the untwisted parts of lilamcnts, introduced into the center of the spreader, from the center outward, a 1guide to direct the. leading ends of newly introduced lila ments into the midst of the spread filaments, and a rotatable carrier tor moving` said .untwisted ends from the 4inner to ward the outer convolutions of said spi al spreader.

5. ln a twisting mechanism, a rotatable twister, a carrier mounted on and rotatable. with said twister, a stationary spiral spreader adapted todeiiect and spread the untwisted parts of lilaments from the ceriter outward, and a `guide to direct the leading ends of newly introduced filaments into the midst of the spread. filaments.

il. ln a twisting mechanism, a .rotatable twister, a stationary spiral spreader adapted to deflect and spread the untwisted parts ot filaments from the center outward, a guideto direct the leading ends of newly introduced filaments into the midst of the spread -tilamentsLa carrier mounted on and rotatable with said twister, comprising a hopper and arms projecting inwardly from the sides ot said hopper, adapted to .move said lilanientsin said spiral spreader.

7. lin a twisting mechanism, a twister, and a i.lament-guiding and spreading device from which ilaments pass to the twister, comprising a spiral ,tunnel and a spiral. wire guide, the inner end of which is connectedto and forms ay continuation ot' the outer edge ot the spiral funnel.

Signed by me at New York, N.. Y., this fifteenth day of May, 1913.

GEORGE A. LOWRY. 

